Kitchen Assistant
Last updated · Confirm dates, fees and eligibility on the official website before you apply.
Preps, cleans and supports the cooks so a kitchen can run at pace. Hard physical work and the recognised way to learn a professional kitchen from the bottom.
- Route in
- Earliest entry: ITI. Also entered at: ITI, Certificate. Direct entry. 2 courses lead here
- Entry pay
- ₹11,000 – ₹20,000 / monthly Any experience
- Where you work
- Catering companies, Cruise lines, Hotels and restaurants, Corporate and institutional canteens
How people get in
Getting in
Earliest entry point. ITI level.
Other levels people enter from. ITI, Certificate.
Where people work
Outlook
Catering companies, Cruise lines, Hotels and restaurants, Corporate and institutional canteens.
Indicative starting salary
Understand the role
11,000 - 20,000 per month at entry level.
This is an indicative range, not a quote. Actual pay varies with employer, city, sector and the specific role.
The route in, step by step
6 steps from where you are now.
Class 8 or Class 10 Required
The most open door in hospitality. Many kitchens hire with no formal qualification at all.
A short food production certificate, or start directly Required
Three to six months of basic training helps, but a great many kitchen assistants learn entirely on the job. If you can only do one thing, get a food handler's hygiene training.
Work in a kitchen Required
Preparation, cleaning, stores and helping the commis chefs. Long hours on your feet in heat - the first three months tell you honestly whether this industry suits you.
Learn knife skills and basic cooking Required
Cuts, stocks, sauces and the mise en place system. Chefs notice who is learning and who is only working, and that is what decides your first promotion.
Get promoted to Commis Chef Required
This is the real step - from helping to cooking. Some kitchens promote from within; elsewhere you take a one-year craftsmanship certificate at an IHM to make the jump faster.
Formalise the training Optional
A craftsmanship certificate in food production, or an ITI food production trade. Without a certificate the ladder above Commis is slower, and hotel chains ask for one.
Courses that lead here
2 mapped routes into this career.
What it pays
Indicative bands.
| Stage | Pay band | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Any experience | ₹11,000 – ₹20,000 / monthly | Varies by employer |
These are ranges, not offers. Pay varies by city, employer size, sector and your own skill more than by job title. Treat the band as the shape of the market, not as a number you can hold anyone to.
Common questions
The ones people actually ask about this work.
What qualification do you need to become a Kitchen Assistant?
The earliest entry point is iti level. People also enter from: ITI, Certificate.
Where does a Kitchen Assistant usually work?
Catering companies, Cruise lines, Hotels and restaurants, Corporate and institutional canteens.
What does a Kitchen Assistant earn to start?
11,000 - 20,000 per month is a typical entry-level range. Pay varies with employer, city and sector.
Test this against your own priorities
Pay, hours and entry route matter differently to different people. Compare this against the alternative you are actually weighing, rather than against the average.